Another Time Turner Fic
by anon33125
Summary: Hermione gets sent back in time during the Battle of Hogwarts, despite her misgivings, she knows that this means the possibility for Harry to grow up loved by his parents and/or Godfather. Sucky summary, better story, hopefully! Will be eventual Sirius X Hermione. Characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know I haven't posted anything for A WHILE, but this is a bit of my own personal headcannon Sirius, and I've found myself really enjoying some of the Time Turner fics out there, so I thought I'd try my hand at one. And try really, really, really hard to actually finish it. I'm a few chapters in, and the prologue sucks, but I promise it will get better. I hope you guys enjoy!

Prologue

There are many impossible things which can happen in a battle. Confusing things as well, with curses, hexes, shields, and even reversal spells flying around. The Battle of Hogwarts was no different, where it seemed like everyone Hermione knew from her year was fighting against every living Death Eater. Hermione hadn't thought much about the significance of what she'd put around her neck when she woke up and dressed that morning. In fact, the only thought she had when she saw her old time-turner on that table next to her was that when Sirius died, all of the time turners had been destroyed. All except this one. Hers. The one she'd never meant to keep. Sirius had died to protect Harry, and herself indirectly as well, and feeling that today was going to be just as dangerous, if not more so than usual, she'd decided she wanted to feel that little bit of extra protection. Perhaps she'd even wanted to subconsciously remind herself of all the things Sirius had survived, all for love of Harry, and that would help keep her going through this battle. Sirius would never have backed down. And neither would she.

Although, really, her thought process at the time was more along the lines of _better keep this with me, never know when a few extra minutes could save a couple lives._ This story, however, would never have been able to happen had Hermione not decided to wear her time turner on that fateful day.

Hermione ended up in a crossfire between a curse, a hex, and a wish. A curse intended to send its victim far away (generally in space, though we'll see here it works in time too), a hex to keep her still and force her to watch the torture around her, and a sincere, hopeful wish from a nearby red-haired girl _protect the people who can save Harry._ When the curse hit the time turner and the hex hit Hermione, the wish suddenly flashed in Hermione's mind as swirling lights engulfed her. Her chest tightened, her breath taken away, and her entire body was yanked hard, worse than Apparation.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Chapter 1: Hermione

Hermione slammed into the cold stone floor in the middle of a Hogwarts corridor and she took a minute to regain control of her breathing. Her head was throbbing and her chest burned with shattered pieces of glass and sand from the time turner embedded in her skin. She groaned, pressing a hand to her temple as she tried to sit up. She frowned at the quiet in the halls, and glanced around, squinting to try to see better in the dark. Where had all the Death Eaters gone? Where was Ginny? She was sure the youngest Weasley had been right next to her, shouting something about saving Harry in her ear. She rubbed absently at her chest, then winced as a piece of glass stuck her finger, looking down it clicked. She'd been wearing the time turner, it had probably gotten hit with a curse and sent her back to before the battle. Well, she hoped it was before the battle, and that it had not sent her into the future.

" _Lumos,"_ she muttered, picking up her wand from where she'd dropped it beside her. She shined the light towards the paintings, where nearly all of their occupants winced and hissed at her to turn it off. "Sorry. _Nox_."

She'd discovered that she was just outside the Great Hall. Most of those paintings had been destroyed in the battle, or their occupants would have left, seeking a safer place. She gave a small sigh of relief, that meant she'd been sent back in time before the battle. Good, she had time to prepare, she could warn somebody here, at the school, that a battle was coming. With that thought in mind, she stood up, and promptly lost control of her breathing again as her chest flared in pain. She hissed out a couple breaths, steadying herself against the wall of the corridor, attempting to ignore the way it felt like her whole torso was on fire now. Maybe her first stop should be Madam Pomfrey, the hospital wing was just a bit further down the corridor.

Taking a couple forced deep breaths, Hermione used the wall to guide herself along the corridor in the dark, already trying to form plans that could help them in the battle ahead to keep her mind off the pain in her chest and the niggling worry that something just wasn't quite right.

"Oh my dear! What on Earth has happened to you?" Madam Pomfrey hurried out into the corridor just a couple minutes after Hermione knocked on the doors to the hospital wing.

"Just a curse, I'm sure, ma'am," Hermione said, trying to keep a trembling grin on her face. "I need to speak with you though, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor McGonagall if she's available."

"Come in, get on a bed, did those boys do this to you? I've told them time and again that pranks can be quite dangerous," Madam Pomfrey started clucking to herself absentmindedly as she pushed Hermione's robes off her chest and started to assess the damage. "Well, we'll have to get you cleaned up. I won't even ask how you got a time turner. Oh my."

Hermione frowned at the Healer, something about her was different, she was less stern, there were fewer wrinkles around her eyes, and something more youthful about the way she held herself. "Do you know who I am, Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked gingerly as the Healer set aside the glass and sand that she'd magicked out of Hermione's chest.

"I'm dreadfully sorry dear, but I don't. Then again, I don't often see those who take care to keep out of trouble. And out of Quidditch. I daresay I know every player on every team. Now, you wanted to speak to Minerva?" Madam Pomfrey didn't seem bothered not to know Hermione, but Hermione felt her heart drop into her stomach, and suddenly it wasn't her chest that was bothering her anymore.

"Yes ma'am, as quickly as possible please," she replied, falling back onto her pillow as her mind went blank except for one question _How far back have I gone?_

"You said your name is Hermione?" Professor McGonagall was looking skeptical as she stood beside Hermione's bed. "And you're a student at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, Professor, Hermione Granger. I've been at Hogwarts since my first year, though I haven't been this past year because my friends and I were given a quest by Professor Dumbledore," Hermione sighed, not quite sure how much to explain nor even if the professor was taking her seriously or just thinking her a case for St. Mungo's. "You authorized a time turner for me in my third year, so I could take all the courses I was interested in. I happened to be wearing that time turner when I was hit by a curse, and I'm trying to figure out how far back I've been sent as well as when I can get back to my time."

"I have never authorized a student to possess a time turner," Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared slightly as she looked at the bushy-haired teen. "You should also know that one of the most important rules of the time turner is—"

"To never be seen! I know! But this is important, Professor! The Death Eaters are going to invade Hogwarts and the students are completely unprepared! I needed to warn SOMEBODY!" Hermione couldn't help her outburst, she _needed_ McGonagall to believe her, more than anything, this was the person she trusted most to be able to help her, the professor she'd been closest with while she was at school, the one who made her feel like she deserved to be here and that her smarts would do wonderful things for the wizarding community. And now the professor who was looking at her like she was crazy.

"Death Eaters?" McGonagall muttered more to herself than the girl barely containing sobs on the hospital cot. Hermione heard it though, and snapped her head back up.

"Yes, Professor, the Death Eaters are planning to invade Hogwarts on May 2nd, 1998. Do we have time to prepare for it?" Hermione controlled her voice carefully, trying to appeal to her professor's practical nature.

"I should say so, girl, this is September 8th, 1976," McGonagall replied, almost sarcastically as she looked down at Hermione, a more questing expression on her face than before. "When were you born?"

"1976?" Hermione barely dared to whisper it. It couldn't be. Could it? No way had she gone back to 1976. That would have been when Sirius and Remus were still at school. She, Harry, and Ron hadn't even been born yet. Harry's parents weren't even married. Her own parents would have just started dating. "No."

Madam Pomfrey's words raced back through her mind _did those boys do this to you?_ A prank. She'd thought it was a prank by the Mauraders gone wrong.

"No!" Hermione practically shouted again as Ginny's words too came back to her _protect the people who can save Harry_. Had Ginny even said those words? Had those been the words to send her back this far, to this particular time?

"Miss Granger! Please calm down!" McGongall's shout brought Hermione back to herself and she slowly stopped hyperventilating. After a few minutes, she looked up to her professor's eyes, only then did Professor McGonagall continue speaking. "I've never heard of such a thing as time travel more than 5 years, never mind more than 20. I'll need to speak with the Headmaster about this. You have information about the Death Eaters? We will want to discuss that further once you are of a more rational mindset. Until then, it would be best for you to stay at Hogwarts, where we can keep an eye on you. Poppy!?"

"Yes Minerva," Madam Pomfrey, looking agitated, came back out from a private bed area, muttering under her breath. "You kick me out to talk privately with my patient, then ordering me back in, I'm not your slave, woman…."

"Poppy, Hermione should be brought to the private room tonight, we don't want students gossiping until we have a story," McGonagall said, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's mutterings.

"You're forgetting, we'll have Remus in the morning, Minerva," Madam Pomfrey replied with a significant glance out the window to the full moon.

"Ah, yes, of course," McGonagall murmured, a softness appearing in her eyes at the mention of the boy.

"I am well enough to discuss a cover story tonight, Professor. I know about Remus, and I don't want any of his routine to be interrupted," Hermione offered quickly. If they came up with a cover story now, she could stay in this bed, or perhaps even ask the Room of Requirement for a bed for the night.

"You know Remus from the future?"

"Yes, professor, he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts in my third year, everyone loved him. Until Professor Snape told the Slytherin table that he was a werewolf near the end of term," Hermione replied.

"Remus would make a wonderful professor. And Professor Snape, too, hmm? The future does hold some interesting twists," She smiled to herself, then seemed to make up her mind. "Very well, I will go get the headmaster."

"Good riddance!" Madam Pomfrey said, just a little too loudly, as Professor McGonagall shot her a glare from the hospital wing doorway. "You're really from the future then?"

"Yes, ma'am," Hermione said carefully, unsure of what the woman would ask of her.

"That will stay between myself, the headmaster, and Professor McGonagall, dear, but if you ever want to talk about the truth, and not live your cover story, you come to me, alright?" The Healer said, as she took Hermione's temperature and put a glass of dreamless sleep potion on the table beside her. "I know a thing or two about leaving loved ones behind."

"Thank you, ma'am," Hermione was truly grateful for that, and even a little in awe that she never did know much about their school nurse despite how vital she was to all the children of Hogwarts. They remained quiet after that while Hermione's mind drifted between worrying about her friends in battle and ideas for how she could conceal herself in this time until she could be sent back to help them.

"You must be Hermione Granger," Professor Dumbledore said by way of greeting as he and Professor McGonagall stepped back into the hospital wing.

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said, her stomach twisted as seeing him alive really emphasized how she wasn't in her own time anymore.

"Professor McGonagall and I have discussed a plan on our way here. You will be housed in Gryffindor, since we feel that as few people as possible should know your true origins. Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor House and she has also offered to act as your guardian while you remain an underage witch at the school. I know you are already seventeen, but we would like you to join the sixth year class in order to have valid N.E.W.T.S, should the worst happen and we are not able to return you to your proper time." Hermione swallowed loudly at this, but nodded all the same, meeting Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. "We also believe that it would be best to change at least your surname, to avoid any potential name recognition with your younger self in this time as well as those you meet in this time who might know you in your time."

"Kingsley," Hermione said almost immediately. If there was ever a situation where she needed a comforting voice of control, reason, and patience to guide her actions, it was now. And Kingsley Shacklebolt was the one to emulate on that front. "I also know French passably well, I have some distant French relatives. So I could have previously been schooled at Beauxbatons, but a Death Eater attack on my family and friends at a back to school party would have caused me to search out my English relatives."

"Which would be me," Professor McGonagall added, looking impressed with the story Hermione recited. "I have many relatives and it is not inconceivable that I could have a distantly related French niece. How will you explain the English accent?"

"That my father was English and my mother French. I spent a significant amount of time in both countries, though my mother desired me to go to her school, and my father, a Muggle, had no reason to argue it," Hermione replied, letting the words flow, over the course of her journey with Harry and Ron, lying was quickly becoming as easy to her as breathing. Professor McGonagall said nothing, but Hermione could read the way her lips were pressed together and the particular expression on her face at the moment said that she was impressed and not annoyed. "Thank you, Professor, for being willing to be my guardian. I promise to help as much as I can while I'm here to prepare you all for what lies ahead."

"I would never give a time turner to a student unqualified to handle it. In your time, I must have seen something worthy in you. I hope to see more of it surfacing while you are here, but we will get to that later," Professor McGonagall replied, with equal parts softness and strictness in her tone.

"Well, that seems everything is settled then, Miss Kingsley," Dumbledore said with a wink. "I believe Madam Pomfrey is setting up a divider in Mr. Lupin's private room, so you will be away from prying eyes in the morning."

"Thank you, Professors, we can meet in the morning to discuss my situation further?" Hermione asked, hopefully hinting at whether Dumbledore had a clue how to get her back to her normal time.

"Yes of course, Miss Kingsley. Now sleep well," he replied, as the two professors swept away to the corridor. Then he turned back to her with a smile before locking the doors, "welcome to Hogwarts!"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the love and reviews! Pardon the horrendous French, Google translate was used... Enjoy! Big shout out to Guest for correcting my French, it has been updated :D

Chapter 2: Sirius

Remus was still asleep when three teenage boys crept into the hospital wing. Well, one teenage boy, a rat, and a dog, all hidden underneath an invisibility cloak with a basket full of chocolates. The rat slipped from under the cloak, turned into a slightly chubby blonde-haired boy to fit a key into the lock, and then turned back into a rat to push the door open and scurry inside. The boy and the dog followed, careful to close the door behind them before dropping the cloak. The boy was James Potter, with messy black hair, dark hazel eyes hidden behind wire-framed glasses, he was tall and lanky, all limbs that were barely filling out with lean, wire-y Quidditch muscles. The dog was huge, black, and shaggy with eyes the color of rainclouds and seemed more than content to stay as a dog instead of changing back to a human.

"Great job Pete, now give me the key back before you lose it again," James whispered, coming up behind the blond boy as they entered the private back room.

"Hey!" Peter argued, affronted, as James made a grab for the key.

"You know you're gonna lose it," James said easily swiping it from the smaller boy's pocket.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you get to just take it from me," Peter pouted, but then James held out the basket of chocolate the dog had been carrying in his mouth.

"Have a frog and it's all forgiven, right?"

"I guess," Peter reached into the basket and took out a couple chocolate frogs.

Padfoot, the dog, jumped on the foot of the bed, shuffling in a circle before laying down, focusing his grey eyes on the sleeping boy.

"Oi, Pads, Poppy'll be here in a minute, it's near 7," James said to the dog, tossing a chocolate frog at his head. The dog took his eyes off Remus to give a playful glare to James as the frog jumped off his head and landed in Remus's lap. He jumped off the bed and mid jump transformed into a tall, leanly muscled teenage boy with none of the acne of the blonde boy, none of the stress lines of the sleeping boy, and none of the goofiness of the messy-haired boy. This boy had long, carefully maintained smooth black hair, musky grey eyes, high cheekbones, and an elegance about his body and movements that few can only dream of. He landed from his jump firmly on his feet and walked over to a curtain that wasn't normally there.

"What's that for?" James asked, getting to his feet as he noticed what Sirius was inspecting.

"Dunno," Sirius replied attempting to hide excitement as he poked at it.

"Don't," Peter already sounded more resigned than admonishing, but he was staring anxiously at the door, waiting for the Healer to appear.

"Aw, Petey, where's your sense of adventure?" Sirius smirked back at the blond boy.

"Just a quick peek," said James, his piqued curiosity belying the reassuring tone his phrase was supposed to have. "If there's somebody really mangled in there, we'll leave right away."

"If it's somebody really mangled, better be Snivellus," Sirius snorted under his breath. James chuckled, Peter bit his lip, and Remus slept on.

A sudden coughing fit from the other side of the curtain caused their discussion to die and Sirius and James quickly pulled aside the curtain to see…

A girl. A girl with very bushy hair who looked about their age having a coughing fit as she reached for a glass of water. She didn't look that mangled, but definitely a little beat up. The way she held herself suggested that her chest had been bruised, there were angry red lines marking up one of her arms, and there were various healing pricks of red all along her neck, almost as if she'd been pelted with pebbles.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked, as she gulped down some water. Looking up, she choked, her eyes wide in fear? No. Recognition. Sirius scowled internally, he really did look too much like the Blacks, if fear and recognition were combined.

"Yeah, easy there, we didn't mean to spook you, our friend is just recovering on the other side, and we heard coughing, so we thought we'd come help. If you needed it," James rambled and ruffled his hair, trying to smile and look rueful at the same time. The girl frowned slightly at James too, almost as if in shock at seeing him there, but trying to contain herself.

"Qui es-tu? Pourquoi es-tu ici? Qu'est-ce que tu essaies de me faire?" the girl spoke rapid-fire French, stopping both James and Sirius in their attempts to get closer to her. ( _Who are you? Why are you here? What are you trying to do to me?_ )

"Doucement, nous sommes étudiants ici; nous voulions simplement t'aider.," Sirius said softly, taking care to look in her eyes and hold his hands up to show they were empty of any threat. ( _Calm down, we're students here and we're only trying to help_ )

"Tu parles français?" The girl asked, sounding shocked as she looked at Sirius. ( _You speak French?_ )

"Oui, et italien, latin et grec entre autres. C'est la norme dans les familles de sangs-purs: pourquoi ne parler qu'une langue si on peut tendre l'oreille en cinq?" Sirius answered with a lift of his eyebrow. ( _Yeah, and Italian, Latin, and Greek, among others. Old Pureblood family standards, why speak one language when you can eavesdrop in five?_ )

At the self-deprecating tone of his voice, one corner of the girl's mouth turned upwards.

"I'll leave you to it then, Pads," James said quickly, feeling awkward to be in a room where he couldn't really understand or follow the conversation.

"Yeah, let Moony know I'll be back over in a bit," Sirius replied, glancing back at his friend briefly before refocusing his attention at the girl on the bed. "Je m'appelle Sirius Black et ils appellent mon ami James Potter. Et vous?" ( _My name is Sirius Black and they call my friend James Potter. And you?"_ )

"Hermione Kingsley," the girl replied softly, starting to relax now that James had left, so Sirius moved closer to her bed.

"Ce qui vous est arrivé?" Sirius asked, trying to be gentle. It couldn't have been good whatever it was. ( _What happened to you?_ )

Hermione sighed and fidgeted with her sheets. After a few minutes of silence and Sirius remaining where he was, she looked up and met his eyes, searching for something. Apparently she found whatever she was looking for because she sighed again and told him. "Death Eater attack."

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, switching back into English as easily as she had.

"They got my family and all my friends, so I came here to find a distant relative, my Aunt Minerva," Hermione said, speaking carefully as if it was painful to talk about.

"Ol' Minnie is your aunt?" Sirius asked, shocked, not really sure how else to respond to her story. "You do speak English!?"

"Yes, my father was English," she took a steadying breath before continuing. "And she is a distant aunt, related through marriages long ago, I believe. But she is all I have left now."

"Well, I'd rather claim her as family than most of my own," Sirius replied easily, friendly. "I guess that means you'll be coming to Hogwarts, then?"

"Yes, I'll be with the sixth years."

"Excellent! My mates and I are all sixth years. You'll definitely be Gryffindor too, no one that survives a Death Eater attack alone could be anything but brave," Sirius offered her a sympathetic smile as he said this, his eyes warm, and she couldn't stop a small smile from coming to her own face.

"Yes, well, I believe that is the plan," Hermione responded, letting out another shaky breath as she tried for a genuine smile. "I'm sorry about speaking French before, I was a bit in shock."

"It's alright," Sirius waved it off, his face brightening. "Can I introduce you to my friends?"

"Yeah," Hermione seemed to brace herself, her face looked determined.

"They're not all that bad," Sirius teased as he stepped away from her to pull the curtain back.

"I know," Hermione murmured softly to herself.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the love, everybody! Holidays are to blame for the time between updates, hopefully the new chapter is worth it :)

Chapter 3: Hermione

As if waking up to find herself face to face with an almost sixteen-year old Sirius Black and James Potter wasn't bad enough, now she was going to have to face the younger Peter Pettigrew, the boy who would cause the deaths of countless people, including the very same boys he was currently in a room with. And Remus, she would have to befriend him all over again, it would have been so nice to have an ally like Remus that already knew everything about her, while this Remus knew nothing. This Remus would be overly cautious around her to be sure that she wouldn't find out about his lycanthropy. She would definitely have to work to prove her trustworthiness to him.

Sirius himself had already been a shock to her. She had hoped that spouting French at the two boys who had barged into her curtained off room would cause them to leave, maybe go find Madam Pomfrey to calm her down. She'd never known that Sirius spoke French, and he did it well, if a little stilting at times, he was probably at the same level as her, which might prove troublesome, seeing as she was supposed to have gotten her whole wizarding education in French, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it. He was nice though, this Sirius, he was so young, and so _alive_ , there was a brightness to his features that she had never seen in the older version she knew. There was hopefulness in his eyes, and whatever shadows may be lurking behind the surface of his face were well hidden, unlike the shroud of darkness that seemed to cloak his older self. She had liked the older Sirius, most of the time; this younger one though, he could really be a friend and not just a protector who lived in his own forgotten memories.

When Sirius finally pulled the curtain back, Hermione was really mostly ready to meet them.

"Oi mates, this is Hermione Kingsley and she's transferring to us from Beauxbatons!" Sirius introduced her with a flourish, then pulled one of the chairs by Remus's bed out to make a circle between the two beds and three chairs. He started pointing out each of the others in the room with a little background information for Hermione. "That's James, you met briefly, he's a bit of a ponce and you'll learn to tune out the rambling. The blond is Peter, he'll eat anything and the house-elves will do anything for him, which comes in handy. And the bedridden bloke is Remus, he gets a bit sick, so we all come in to cheer him up with chocolate and books, he'll help you catch up in any subjects you need."

"You speak English?!" James exclaimed, turning to face her. "And Sirius is the ponce, don't even let him tell you otherwise. I'm amazing."

"She spoke French cuz she thought it would get rid of you, Prongsie," Sirius chuckled, immaturely sticking out a tongue in James's direction.

"She probably thought it would get rid of you too, but you're like a Grindylow with pretty girls, can't leave them alone, flatter them with French nothings. Twat," James responded in kind by launching several already opened chocolate frogs in Sirius's direction.

"I'd speak French to get rid of the both of you any day," Remus offered tiredly from the bed. He gave Hermione a friendly smile. "Welcome to Hogwarts, and don't mind these two, you get used to them. I can help you though, if you need it."

"Thank you, Remus, I'll keep that in mind," Hermione said, relaxing back into her own pillows while James and Sirius were now charming the chocolate frogs to fly at each other while spitting some slimy green substance that Hermione really didn't want to think about.

"I told them not to bug you," Peter said, coming close to Hermione's bed, while ducking and watching out for the flying frogs. "But I'm glad they did, transferring schools is pretty rare. With Sirius and James though, you'll know the whole school pretty quick."

"Thanks, Peter. It will be nice to see friendly faces when classes start on Monday," Hermione said, forcing herself to be polite. This was not yet the man who would betray James and Lily and send Sirius to Azkaban for 12 years. This was just a teenage boy who was used to being picked on in school, but still had to measure up to friends with such strong personalities. If she was going to end up staying in this time, which was looking more likely since she started thinking about it when she woke up this morning, then she would have to consider what she was going to do about Peter. If there was a way to save him, she felt obligated to try. For the sake of the bond between these four boys, she would try to convince him to see the good in taking the morally just side, whether they lost or won, regardless of the advantage of power.

Shortly after James, Peter, and Sirius were shooed out of the hospital wing by Madame Pomfrey, Hermione found herself alone again, on her way to Professor Dumbledore's office to attempt to figure out what she could possibly do in this time without causing a paradox, if she hadn't already…

"Ah, good morning, Miss Kingsley," Dumbledore greeted as she entered his office, barely looking up from the stack of books and papers on his desk.

"Good morning, Professor," Hermione replied, carefully taking the seat in front of his desk and trying not to fidget too much.

"I take it you are well healed from your journey last night," Dumbledore looked up from a paper over his half moon glasses to take in her appearance, wearing a uniform most likely from the lost and found closet.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey does a great job," Hermione said quickly, jiggling her legs. _Enough of the pleasantries, old man_ she thought, not entirely unkindly knowing that he was skilled in both occlumency and legilimancy.

"I'm sure you're questioning what our plan is? And what we have researched in order to get you back to your time?" His blues eyes twinkled behind his glasses, he'd heard her thoughts.

"Yes sir."

"Unfortunately, we have not made much progress on the research," Dumbledore said gently, looking back down to the books in front of him. "There simply aren't any recorded cases of such travel. And with the time turner which brought you here having been destroyed, we have no way to examine the changes which were necessary to the instrument in order for the trip to have been possible. Minerva and I believe that it would be best for you to begin making a life here, in this time. As we have now met you both in this time as well as your previous time. If we can research further into the paradox, we might be able to reverse it, but considering the scale, that is highly unlikely."

Hermione sighed and felt her legs stop jiggling, she had been barely clinging to the hope that her situation could be solved overnight, of course it was going to be a more long term problem.

"This is not cause for despair though, my dear, if I understand correctly, we may now have the opportunity to prevent your future from ever occurring," the old wizard once again fixed his eyes on her. Hermione felt his gaze and looked up from twisting her hands together, nodding to herself as she understood his meaning.

"Yes, I know how to kill Voldemort. If we can kill him before he kills the Potters, Harry will be raised by his family. There will never be a second war, and no battle at Hogwarts," Hermione drew her brows together as her face became more determined and her eyes brightened. "I could fix everything. James, Lily, and Sirius need never die, Remus can have a normal job, and Harry will be happy and loved. No more hiding, discriminating, or senseless deaths…"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Miss Kingsley, this will be a very serious undertaking," Dumbledore warned as Hermione trailed off, her earlier nervousness replaced with eager determination. He kept his eyes trained on her until she calmed down and nodded with understanding of how dangerous her new quest would be. "Now, tell me what you know so I may start to make a plan."

Harry's face flashed in her mind, telling her of how power-mad Dumbledore could become when faced with the three hallows, and she made a quick decision.

"Horcruxes, Professor, Voldemort intends to make 7 of them. I believe at this time he would have managed the diadem, the cup, and the diary. He will make the locket soon, and hide it in a cave sometime in 1979. The next one won't be made until 1981, when he tries to kill Harry Potter," Hermione said quickly, carefully leaving out any mention of the ring. She would have to find the ring on her own, there was no way she was going to let the headmaster anywhere near it. Which meant she would need to learn how to cast and maintain Fiendfyre, or else get possession of some Basilisk venom. "We believe the diadem is hidden somewhere in Hogwarts, the cup was held in the Lestrange vault in Gringotts, and the diary was being protected by the Malfoys. Has Bellatrix even married Lestrange yet? And Narcissa to Malfoy?"

Hermione wondered briefly if the Horcruxes might be held somewhere else now, or if Riddle had already decided which followers would maintain the pieces of his soul. Likely Malfoy had always had charge of the diary, it was also quite possible that Bellatrix had been the one to be entrusted with the cup and not the Lestrange family as a whole.

"Bellatrix married Rodolfus just this past summer and I believe Narcissa Black is engaged to marry Lucius Malfoy in the new year, after graduating," Dumbledore chuckled lightly at the confusion on the young girl's face as she tried to piece together the people from the world she knew with the one she was currently in. "I will discuss the Horcruxes with some trusted colleagues and we will decide what to do with this knowledge. I have suspected that Tom was up to something of this nature, but seven Horcruxes? Surely even he wouldn't consider such atrocities on that level…"

"You were the one who convinced us to look for seven, Professor, in my time. You believed that he liked the poetry, and the magic, of the number 7, that surely that must be the safest number to have in order to ensure immortality," Hermione watched the older man's face fall as he considered this.

"Yes, I suppose. The cost of creating a Horcrux is so great, immortality was truly the goal?"

"Yes, we believe so."

Both Hermione and Dumbledore remained silent, the young witch thinking about how she was going to start a new life when clinging to the old one was going to be her motivating force in her dangerous quest, while the old wizard was thinking how times change and yet, truly, they don't. Someone, somewhere will always be trying to redefine what true greatness means, when all they had to do was look to their deepest heart of hearts to find what really matters. The clanging of the bells dragged both out of their thoughts and Dumbledore cleared his throat as Hermione stood to get to breakfast on time.

"Well, Miss Kingsley, you may look forward to a note from me when a plan has been formed. And please reach out to either myself or Professor McGonagall if you believe there is any other information from your future that we may be able to use. We will continue research into your time situation, but if there is no success in a week, I believe the changes to the timeline will be far too great to undo."

"Of course, Professor, I understand," Hermione said, voice fading softly as she tried not to think too much about the life she had lost and focus more on the lives she would be saving.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been a looooonng time, but I actually have a few chapters in the works right now for this fic, haven't given up yet! I hope you like it :)

Chapter 4: Sirius

The first breakfast after the full moon was a fairly typical experience for the Marauders, marked by all of their lack of sleep adventuring the night away. Remus would, having been just reluctantly released from the hospital wing, be moving slowly, eating little, and mostly just trying to avoid face-planting into the silver serving platters. Peter would inevitably have his plate arranged with a stack of toast, a stack of sausage, a pile of eggs, and a pool of beans at the center; he would then go about eating his carefully maintained breakfast in a rhythmic circle through each food, only letting his attention leave the plate when James or Sirius did something of particular note, which happened often. James would be half asleep, needing at least one full cup of tea and precisely 6 pieces of bacon before accumulating sufficient energy to face the day. Sirius, on the other hand, would be awake. He was very much accustomed to little sleep and he knew that the rest of his friends were at their most vulnerable at these particular once-monthly breakfasts. So, he would have little food on his plate and most of his attention focused outward, on the rest of the students in the Great Hall and their activities towards his friends.

This particular morning was only slightly different than every other post-moon morning, and that was in the way that Lily Evans was talking to a new girl with dark bushy hair and an expression on her face like she couldn't believe who she was talking to. Sirius pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes as he watched the two girls approach the Gryffindor table. There was something familiar about the girl's expression, almost the same combination of fear and amazement she'd had when looking at him earlier that morning. Very strange.

"What's your problem, Black?" Evans grunted as she dropped her bag next to Remus's seat and diagonally across from Sirius. "Having trouble seeking out your next conquest?"

"Not particularly," Sirius quickly rearranged his own features into cool ignorance. "Though if you're interested I know a guy."

"Morning, Lily-flower," James's head had perked up the minute Lily appeared in his line of vision. He quickly ate bacon slices number 5 and 6 in the hopes that he would be awake enough to engage in conversation with her for longer than 2 minutes.

"Gross, chew your food, Potter," Evans curled her lip and rolled her eyes. "This is Hermione Kingsley, she'll be joining our year from Beauxbatons, please don't be horrendous to her."

"We would never!" James proclaimed, forgetting there was still bacon in his mouth, and spraying Peter, who sat directly across from him.

"Oi, I'm trying to eat here!" Peter whined, flicking a forkful of eggs towards James.

"Oh come on, Pete, I hate eggs!" James moaned, looking forlornly at his plate, which still had more bacon and some toast on it. "I can't eat anything now! And you've got eggs in my tea!"

"Then say it, don't spray it," Peter muttered focusing back on his beans.

Sirius rolled his eyes and exchanged his own egg-free plate and tea for James's, as he saw Remus putting a hand to his temple and his eyes squeezing closed. "Shut it and eat, both of you, Moony's ill."

"Sorry, mate," James and Peter quickly apologized as they noticed the grimace on Remus's face.

"Hmm," Remus sighed and edged his still half-full mug of tea away from him with a closed fist.

"You should eat something, Remus," Lily looked at his pale, pinched face carefully, choosing to ignore the outburst between Peter and James.

"Not hungry," he murmured softly, not bothering to lift his head. "Maybe later."

"Ease off, Evans," Sirius warned, the tightening of Remus's jaw meant that he was probably close to vomiting. Even though chocolate was Remus's favorite post-moon snack, it did not agree at all with his still slightly wolf-y stomach. Lily frowned but left it alone and turned back to Hermione.

"This is why I usually sit a bit farther down the table. Now, what classes are on your schedule?"

Normally, Sirius would pay more attention to the conversation happening between Lily and Hermione, but as he watched Remus's body tense up again when Peter burped, smelling of his concoction of beans, sausage, eggs, and toast, he quickly stood from his own seat and rounded the end of the table.

"Loo, Rem?" he asked quietly, already pulling the thinner boy's arm around his shoulders. Remus merely nodded and allowed Sirius to lead him quickly away from the table.

They made it to the nearest boys bathroom before the small amount of toast, chocolate, and tea that was in Remus's stomach made a repeat appearance. Sirius listened to Remus heaving as he leaned against the sink, ready to ward off any other boys that might enter the bathroom. He would do anything for Remus. After that horrible mistake last year, Sirius knew in his own mind that he was still making amends, still trying to forgive himself. Before last year all of the boys had taken turns looking after post-moon Remus; now, it was just Sirius. He'd claimed responsibility, he loved Remus and he needed to show the other boy that he had grown beyond the crazy person he'd been last year.

Remus himself had reluctantly forgiven Sirius only a couple months after the incident, after catching only a brief glimpse of the pressure all of the Black family and most of Slytherin House had been putting on the older boy. He did have to admit that he liked the familiarity of having the same person near after full moons, especially that being someone who could read him so well that he never had to speak up when he was feeling truly ill. James could be easily distracted by Lily and Peter's attention could likewise be more focused on his food, but when Sirius was keeping an eye on him, Remus knew he'd never have to fight to get his attention if he needed help. Sirius was focused and somehow he always knew what to do; even if Remus did know that it stemmed from his guilt about The Incident, he couldn't help being comforted by the other boy's careful attention.

When the heaving finished, Sirius pushed open the stall door and helped Remus back to his feet and over to the sink to wash his face, hands, and gargle some water.

"If we stopped giving you chocolate, this wouldn't happen so often," Sirius offered as Remus spat out the chalky tasting water.

"Don't you dare," Remus glared at the grey-eyed boy through the mirror. Sirius's gaze was laughing though.

" 'Course we'd never do that to you, Moony," Sirius handed him a couple paper towels. Remus snorted and shook his head as he wiped off his face with shaking hands.

"Was that Hermione sitting with Lily? The Hermione we met this morning?" Remus asked, running a hand through his hair and examining his teeth in the mirror.

"Yep."

"I should have been nicer," Remus sighed.

"You're sick, Remus, even a new girl understands that. She did see you in the hospital wing this morning. And she's not going to put it together," Sirius responded, he knew Remus's real fear was that she would guess that he was a werewolf, not that he'd been rude.

"She might, she seems smart," Remus argued back, though his heart wasn't really in it.

"Not gonna happen," Sirius reassured him, glancing at the clock. "Ready to head back?"

"Yeah, Pete should be done eating by now."

Sirius hmmed absentmindedly. "We may as well just get to class, sit in the front row by the windows, James and Pete can sit all the way in back."

"Ugh, yeah, good idea."

"I'm going to nip back into the Great Hall and grab our bags," Sirius said, as soon as he'd assured himself that Remus could walk alright on his own.

"Sirius?" Remus called to him just as the door was about to close.

"Yeah?" Sirius poked his head back into the boy's bathroom.

"Thanks."

Sirius only gave a soft smile in return to the slight brunet, and then left again.

"Remus alright?" James asked as soon as Sirius reappeared. Peter, Lily, and, surprisingly, Hermione looked anxious as well.

"Yeah, just a bit ill, we're headed early to Charms. You and Pete sit all the way back, right?"

"Sure, you and Remus gonna sit by the window?" James replied, nodding to Sirius's request.

"Yeah," Sirius replied, shouldering his bag, while Peter handed him Remus's from the other side of the table. "Thanks, Pete."

"Tell him we'll see him in Charms," Lily said, concern in her face and her voice.

"I hope he feels better," Hermione added, giving Sirius pause as he could have sworn there was a knowing look in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as he started to scrutinize it.

"Will do," Sirius responded to all of them, turning away from the table to leave the Hall now that he had both bags. "See you in a bit."

Maybe Hermione _had_ guessed something. How though? Sirius didn't know. No point in worrying Remus just yet, he decided, as he walked quickly back through the corridor to rejoin the young werewolf.


End file.
